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A South Side man was sentenced to prison yesterday for a fatal shooting that left a family to grieve and a woman with flashbacks.

Larue "L.A." Monford was convicted of four felony charges in December for the February murder of Eugene "Rock" Brown, 58, and the wounding of Alisa Brown at the D#1 Happy Family Bar on the Near East Side.

Monford, 41, heard from the victims' families in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. He will serve 28 years to life in prison for a crime he said he didn't commit.

Columbus police said several witnesses identified Monford, who had been drinking at the bar on St. Clair Avenue for hours when Eugene Brown met Alisa Brown there. Witnesses said Monford bought the two, who aren't related, drinks and paid with a $20. He told the bartender to "keep the change," according to testimony.

Later, deciding he wanted the tip back, Monford asked Eugene Brown, a part-time disc jockey who also worked as an advertising account manager at WCKX (107.5 FM), for the money. When Brown balked, Monford shot him in the back on his bar stool and then turned his gun on Alisa Brown, who was shot as she tried to run.

Defense attorney Tracy Younkin had argued that police and the prosecutor did not prove Monford was at the bar. He said they instead charged a man who looked like the shooter.

But McIntosh said, "We're left with the notion this was all over a $10 tip, which makes it totally senseless. There were too many coincidences and this wasn't a case of someone coming in, shooting someone and running out. The witnesses who ID'd you saw you for an extended period of time."

He sentenced Monford to 18 years to life for murder and 10 years for the combined charges of carrying a concealed weapon, attempted murder and felonious assault.

Alisa Brown's mother told the judge that her 27-year-old daughter suffers from post-traumatic symptoms and walks with a cane because of the shooting.